Practice GRE scores vs. real GRE scores

[bbdd2]

Perphaps you are using Power Prep I which is the old one. You need to use Power Prep II which is for the new GRE.

Quite surprised because my Powerprep is Powerprep II..

That's the way it's written. Unless the old one is written that way too.

[drodrige]

Those are all top universities, so they do expect them to be quite high. I'm not in any of those fields so I'm not sure what they typically require, but I'd imagine they aren't terribly concerned about quantitative and may well want a higher verbal score instead. Another thing to consider is that a GRE is what aspect of an application package so you'd also need a high GPA, you'd need good LORs, a strong SOP, and some form of scholarly experience (in my field they expect us to have spent time in a lab).

What I'd do if I was you would be to look at their websites to see if they have information on the GRE scores of previous admitted students as well as to check out the results search here to see what the stats are of people who got in and people who were rejected.

 

Yeah that's what I've tried, but haven't found anything. I'm also aware of that (the GRE being just a small part of the application), but I don't want to be rejected at first because of the scores.

[Vene]

Yeah that's what I've tried, but haven't found anything. I'm also aware of that (the GRE being just a small part of the application), but I don't want to be rejected at first because of the scores.

Unfortunately, I don't have any insider information, it's not even in the same field of study as me. But, 161 V and 161 Q are pretty good scores and I have a hard time seeing them being below any reasonable cut off. If the rest of your application is solid, I don't see why they would hurt you.

[Catria]

PowerPrep II #1: V159, Q169

PowerPrep II #2: V157, Q168

PowerPrep II #3: V160, Q170 (AW 5.0-5.5 based on the human graders I used)

 

Real test: V162, Q167, AW4.0

 

I blamed the discrepancy in writing styles between what ETS wants and what I usually do for this 1-1.5 point discrepancy... but I suppose a 4.0 on AW won't be what will reject me from UPenn (or Harvard/Princeton for that matter).

[bsharpe269]

I just took the GRE today so i can finally comment on accuracy of practice tests!

 

Power Prep 1 (5 months ago): 153V, 163Q

Magoosh Practice Test 1 (4 months ago): 153V, 164Q

 

I spent the next 5 months studying with magoosh and memorized 250 vocab words.

 

These were all taken within the past month:

Power Prep 2: 161V, 169Q

Magoosh Practice Test 2: 164V, 160Q

Power Prep 1: 160V, 166Q (I retook it since I never looked at the correct answers after the first take and had forgotten teh questions after 5 months anyway).

 

Actual Scores: 162V, 168Q

 

The Power Prep tests and magoosh verbal were very accurate for me. Magoosh Q consistanantly gave me much lower scores. Their questions in general are much harder than the actual test but they do prepare you well.

[DDsoc]

I did quite a few practice tests and was consistently scoring ~156 for verbal, and 165+ for quant. Probably studied 50-60 hours. On test day, I ended up with a 165V and 158Q. So! Anything can happen on test day.

 

But I would definitely not recommend taking a multitude of practice tests to ensure you'll get a certain score. Take 1 or 2 a week at most, depending on how long you have before your exam and how much time you have to study, and otherwise... actually study! It's a lot more productive to take 2 hours to learn 20 words really well, and work on reviewing some math formulas, than to just do a practice test to see how you might preform on test day. At the end of the day you still gotta learn the stuff. 

[bbdd2]

I feel rather depressed after taking power prep. I've put in so many hours into ensuring I get at least 160 on both sections. My first power prep came out as 165V

162Q

Secobd power prep about 3 weeks later was disastrous.

V 158

Q 155

After studying so hard on the quants.

I don't get it. Granted I wasn't composed in the second power prep but nonetheless I found myself really struggling with verbal which has always been my forte. The math was no better. I've done most of the questions in the manhattan 5Lb book only to get a reduced score?

At his point I'm saying ' F the Gre'

Whatever happens on Friday so be it. I'll just probably apply to low ranked phds.

Feel so bad right now

Edited June 22, 2014 by bbdd2

[bsharpe269]

I feel rather depressed after taking power prep. I've put in so many hours into ensuring I get at least 160 on both sections. My first power prep came out as 165V

162Q

Secobd power prep about 3 weeks later was disastrous.

V 158

Q 155

After studying so hard on the quants.

I don't get it. Granted I wasn't composed in the second power prep but nonetheless I found myself really struggling with verbal which has always been my forte. The math was no better. I've done most of the questions in the manhattan 5Lb book only to get a reduced score?

At his point I'm saying ' F the Gre'

Whatever happens on Friday so be it. I'll just probably apply to low ranked phds.

Feel so bad right now

Your mood can affect scores significantly. Don't get depressed about a practice score. I didn't actually notice an improvement in my scores for a few months. A slow and steady study approach worked for me but trying to cram just frustrated me and didn't help at all.

[VinceKotchian]

I feel rather depressed after taking power prep. I've put in so many hours into ensuring I get at least 160 on both sections. My first power prep came out as 165V

162Q

Secobd power prep about 3 weeks later was disastrous.

V 158

Q 155

After studying so hard on the quants.

I don't get it. Granted I wasn't composed in the second power prep but nonetheless I found myself really struggling with verbal which has always been my forte. The math was no better. I've done most of the questions in the manhattan 5Lb book only to get a reduced score?

 

 

I'm a GRE tutor. A few things that might explain the score decrease:

 

1. You tried to work on all of the questions. For your score goal (160+), working on every question can be counterproductive. If a question seems hard, guess, mark, and skip. Don't try for perfection - you may not have time to work on every single question in a section - especially in the 2nd section of verbal and math. Trying to do every question may result in rushing.

 

2. Manhattan questions are usually less complex and less wordy than real GRE ones. Using techniques like the ones I have here: http://vincekotchian.com/test-prep/gre_videos/ can help you. The GRE is testing your ability to adapt, not just your math. Study the questions in the Official Guide from ETS and review your powerprep questions. Skip the Manhattan at this point.

 

3. You may have been battling with your emotions. Accept it if you get upset, breathe, and move onto something else. Everyone goes through tough spots on the GRE - so don't expect everything to go perfectly.

 

Best, Vince

[wopr6753]

Kaplan 1 (paper): 155Q, 155V

Kaplan 2: 164Q, 158V

Kaplan 3: 170Q, 160V

Kaplan 4: 167Q, 160V

Kaplan 5: 167Q, 160V

 

Powerprep 1: 167Q, 165V

 

Real: 170Q, 168V

 

Total time studied: ~110 hours, took ~1 practice test a week for 5 weeks before GRE. Took two the weekend before. 

[jimmyjjohn]

Average Manhattan GRE Scores (6 tests): V: 158      Q: 161

Powerprep 1: V: 160     Q: 169

Powerprep 2: V: 154     Q: 165

Real GRE:     V: 162      Q: 161

 

I felt that the best indication of how one will perform on test day comes from the Manhattan GRE online tests. The average score from the six tests were the closest to my actual score. However, the best practice material is definately from ETS Powerprep. I should also note that Magoosh is also accurate with their range of scores that they provide after you do their practice questions. Don't waste your time with Kaplan.

[bsharpe269]

I felt that the best indication of how one will perform on test day comes from the Manhattan GRE online tests. The average score from the six tests were the closest to my actual score. However, the best practice material is definately from ETS Powerprep. I should also note that Magoosh is also accurate with their range of scores that they provide after you do their practice questions. Don't waste your time with Kaplan.

 

Interestingly, the score that Magoosh gave me from the practice questions was pretty far off, especially compared to ETS which was very accurate. Magoosh guessed that my scores would be between 159-164Q and 153-158V. My actual scores were 168Q, 162V.

[geographyrocks]

I studied for months. Most of my practice tests were >162 for both Q and V.

Actual: 160V and 156Q

I was one of the lucky ones who had an extra section of math to "test new questions". Did a lot of people get the extra section? I'm fairly certain it was the first section I had to go through as almost all of the questions were unfamiliar to me. All I know is that my Q score was about 8 points lower than it generally was during the practice tests. I seem to be the exception...

[DDsoc]

I studied for months. Most of my practice tests were >162 for both Q and V.

Actual: 160V and 156Q

I was one of the lucky ones who had an extra section of math to "test new questions". Did a lot of people get the extra section? I'm fairly certain it was the first section I had to go through as almost all of the questions were unfamiliar to me. All I know is that my Q score was about 8 points lower than it generally was during the practice tests. I seem to be the exception...

 

I also had an extra math section, nearly all of which was challenging and unfamiliar. I also scored about 8 points lower than expected in math! Twins, unfortunately, in this case. 

[bsharpe269]

I also had an extra math section, nearly all of which was challenging and unfamiliar. I also scored about 8 points lower than expected in math! Twins, unfortunately, in this case. 

 

I had an extra math section too! I am certain that it was my middle math section because I know I did really bad at it and I still ended up with a decent score. I think if anything, it sort of help me since I felt like I had to do amazing at the last section in case the middle one counted.

[geographyrocks]

I had an extra math section too! I am certain that it was my middle math section because I know I did really bad at it and I still ended up with a decent score. I think if anything, it sort of help me since I felt like I had to do amazing at the last section in case the middle one counted.

I'm sure my attitude had a lot to do with it. After the first section, I felt like an idiot. So I kind of had a defeatist attitude after that.

[oneironaut233]

ETS Official Guide Practice Test 1: Verbal 168/Q 169

Test 2: Verbal 166/Q 170

how well does the real test mirror the official guide's difficulty level?

[sarahpalmer]

Average of 4 Kaplan practice tests: 155 V / 153 Q
Powerprep I: 155 V / 156 Q
Powerprep II: 157 V / 155 Q

Actual test: 160 V / 156 Q

Take the Powerprep timed tests and expect to score just a little higher than that - seems like that's what happens to most people.

[oanise93]

So, I just got through taking the GRE about ~1.5 hours ago.

 

I studied primarily using the Magoosh Advanced GRE plan. I put in approximately 130 hours of studying in. I took 10 practice tests.

 

Score

 

 

test 1 manhattan 5/31 160 158 test 2 manhattan 6/14 161 159 test 3 manhattan 6/21 158 157 test 4 manhattan 6/28 164 157 test 5 magoosh 6/21 158 160 test 6 magoosh 7/12 161 163 test 7 ets book test 1 6/7 161 163 test 8 ets book test 2 07/5 163 163 test 9 Powerprep  170 161 test 10 Power Prep 167 158       Overall Average 162.3 159.9 Last 4 taken 165.25 161.25

 

 

Real Score

 

161 Q and 166 Verbal.

 

 

[spearmint]

ETS Book Test 1:     V: 168    Q:159

ETS Book Test 2:     V:166     Q:157

PowerPrep 1:           V:169     Q:158

PowerPrep 2:           V:166     Q:155

 

Magoosh Score Predictor:      V: 161 – 166       Q: 156 – 161

 

Real GRE – Frist Attempt:          V: 166    Q:152

Real GRE – Second Attempt:     V: 165    Q:155

 

I’m quite disappointed and will be taking the test for a third time to raise my scores (my quant score in particular).

 

I think that the ETS tests provide the best indication of how one will score on the actual day. However, I think it’s important to bear in mind that nerves can greatly affect how one will actually score.

 

Also, I made use of Score It Now and found it to be very accurate. I wrote 4 timed essays using the software and it awarded all 4 essays a 5.0 – which is the exact AWA mark I received for both my attempts at the GRE.

[xolo]

Magoosh:  V161-166 Q156-161 (Exactly the same predictor as spearmint) (I love Magoosh, it's fun)

 

Attempt1:  V163  Q156  4.0AWA

 

That AWA really bugged me.  At first I figured it was "good enough" then decided to study for a month (off and on) and re-take.

 

Attempt2:  V168  Q157  5.0AWA (I really tried to focus on the Q preparation but it was tooo boring and not really that important for my field, so finally I just watched the V practice, so I think I practiced both about the same, and that was just watching the videos)

 

So re-taking can help.  I also HIGHLY recommend PeakPerformance, who posts on this forum.  (I also really concentrated on the AWA, I knew I could do better)

Edited August 5, 2014 by eyepod

[guadalcanal]

Just got my AW scores in, so I thought I'd post here. 

 

PP1 (first time, at the beginning of my overall prep): V154, Q151

Princeton (from the book, can't recall which one of the tests I did): V160, Q151

ETS Book Test 1: V160, Q152

ETS Book Test 2: V159, Q153

PP2: V161, Q152

Manhattan (only did quant, free online test): Q152

Kaplan's Premier CD (average scores of the tests): V161, Q156

PP1 (done again, after a month and a half): V162, Q158

 

Actual test: V166, Q153, AW 6

 

I'm disappointed with the quant score since I spent two months working like crazy on bringing it up, but on test day (and a few days before that) I fell quite ill and at two points had to be escorted out of the testing center because I was coughing so much (once during my first writing task, and the next during my first math section). I was already despondent about the math and I think the illness only exacerbated my confusion and terror, leading to the dismal score. However, since I'm applying for IR programs, I don't think it's too bad a score, and I hope my verbal and writing make up for it.

Edited August 6, 2014 by guadalcanal

[s_rez87]

Kaplan MST 2:    Q153 - V146 (Apr 13 before studying)

ETS Paper 1:      Q158 (Apr 16)

Kaplan MST 3:    Q158 (Apr 23)

Kaplan MST 4:    Q156 (May 9)

ETS Paper 2:      Q163 (Jun 28)

Manhattan 1:      Q160 (Jun 29)

Kaplan MST 5:    Q160 (Jul 6)

Manhattan 2:      Q157 - V151 (Jul 13)

Manhattan 3:      Q158 - V152 (Jul 19)

Manhattan 4:      Q159 - V152 (Jul 23)

Manhattan 5:      Q156 - V146 (Jul 27)

Kaplan MST 1:    Q164 - V143 (Aug 10)

PowerPrep 2:      Q163 - V149 (Aug 17)

 

Actual GRE:       Q161 - V151 (Aug 20)

 

I'm applying to CS schools so I will probably take it again to try and improve my Quant. I'm not applying to any top 20 so if I don't improve I think it'll be fine.

[jump4444]

Manhattan prep was on average 157 verbal and 156 quant

ETS was 160 verbal and 153 quant.

Actual scores were 161 verbal and 158 quant.

[hreaðemus]

Kaplan diagnostic: 162V, 137Q (ouch! I skipped half of the quant entirely, though, so the score wasn't totally accurate)

Kaplan #2: 166V, 148Q

Magoosh #1: 166V, 148Q

Kaplan #3: 168V, 151Q

Kaplan #4: 162V, 151Q

PowerPrep #1: 169V, 151Q (notice a trend here?)

 

Actual GRE scores: 170V, 153Q

 

I practiced a lot for the quant section and only saw my score increase by a few points - but even those few points helped, and in my field the verbal counts more than the quant, so a mediocre math score is tolerable. In general I think PowerPrep was the most accurate predictor of performance - but while I've heard a lot of people criticize Kaplan's math sections, I found them to be WAY more similar to the actual test than those offered by Magoosh.